Ever since HP acquired Palm, the company has been struggling to make webOS smartphones work; will the Pre 3 finally be the device to capture the public’s eye? We should find out shortly, thanks to the phone unexpectedly launching in Europe.

Earlier this week we saw the European Pre 3 made available for pre-order, and were expecting it to be another couple weeks before the handset actually started shipping out to customers. Since then, though, HP has updated its online store to reflect that the smartphone is presently available, shipping in 1-2 days. Retail partners have also started shipping the Pre 3 to their customers who have already place orders.

HP has confirmed that the Pre 3’s release has started, adding, “we expect to share additional information for U.S. customers soon.” We’re still waiting for confirmation on which carriers will pick up the webOS-powered smartphone; last month a rumor arrived saying Sprint would pass on the model. While you could always import one to the US in advance, the European Pre 3’s UMTS frequency support is just slightly off what you’d want for operation on a US carrier, handling 1900MHz but with 900MHz instead of the 850MHz used for AT&T.